Soap Lake School District five candidates speak

EPHRATA — Candidates for Soap Lake School District position five were invited to speak at a political forum hosted by the American Legion in Ephrata.

Incumbent Curtis Dotson had five minutes to introduce himself and explain his views to an audience at the American Legion building. Dotson had one minute to respond to each question issued from attendees and emcee Mike Montaney during a 10-minute question and answer period.

Candidate Wayne Turner did not attend. School board member Steve Merriel spoke on Turner’s behalf by reading a letter Turner wrote.

Dotson said his four years as a school board member and his occupation give him the necessary experience for the position.

“Professionally I have experience negotiating contracts, working within various policies and working with different groups and entities,” Dotson said. “Those are all things required of school board members.”

Dotson said budget cuts facing schools are his main concern. He said schools around Grant County suffered from losses, such as staff cuts.

“The school board looked at all programs in the schools while creating the 2009-2010 budget and we did not cut any staff positions,” Dotson said. “We actually added seven hours of para pro time and kept the sports programs coming through.”

Dotson pointed out the current school board members don’t have as much experience in their positions as others did in previous years.

“When I was asked to run for school board four years ago, the board members had an average of more than a decade of experience among them,” Dotson said. “Voting for me would mean building on experience and knowledge and would be a value when these hard decisions come in the future.”

He mentioned issues facing Soap Lake schools are staff cuts, deciding on educational programs and the need to update sports facilities.

Dotson said during his term there were many changes made to Soap Lake schools.

“We were able to make those changes while still making education the number one priority, keeping the schools safe and still giving the students plenty of opportunities,” Dotson said.

Turner wrote he was unable to attend because he was at a Soap Lake varsity football game. He stated he’s been an assistant coach for seven years and felt obligated to support the team after the passing of a person who was close to several players.

“My intent if elected is to change the static policies of my opponent and provide the voters of this district with the person that will actually represent them and give them a voice,” Merriel read.

Turner claimed Dotson has not allowed public input during his term and ruled out the voice of the public by cooperating with “the old administration.”

“Included with that is his devotion to our interim superintendent,” Turner wrote. “She was the right hand man, if you will, to our previous superintendent and was confirmed solely by (Dotson’s) efforts. The term with Kurt Dotson can best be described as four years of rhetoric, with big talk and little do.”

Turner wrote the school board needed transparency, open discussion and to enable school policies to be set by school administration instead of the board of directors.

Turner wrote he was a retired owner of a heating business, a Vietnam War veteran and grandfather of four Soap Lake students.

“The direct relationship I have established with our Soap Lake students as volunteer for this past seven years, gives me special insight into the direction they need to be led to reach the success they deserve,” Merriel read.

Turner wrote a goal is to bring back student pride in Soap Lake schools.

Merriel said there were a list of other goals written by Turner he would save for the question and answer session.

An audience member asked Merriel to read some of the goals.

Turner’s goals included inviting board members to take a more active role in the daily functioning of the district, increasing administrative accountability, using capital improvement funds to revitalize Soap Lake schools, realigning the administrative team, increasing grant applications and implementing a curriculum which focuses on preparing students for college as well as vocational goals.

Dotson was asked what the most important issue facing the Soap Lake School District is.

Dotson said the search for a new superintendent is on the top of the list.

He said there have been misconceptions concerning the board’s choices on the issue.

“The previous superintendent left early to move to another school,” Dotson said. “We had to apply in August for a new superintendent search and, at that same time, we received word from Olympia legislators that money was going to be extremely tight.”

Dotson said the decision to give current business manager Denise Mehal the interim superintendent position saved the district $64,000.

“We have an early jump to do a full-fledged superintendent search,” Dotson said.

Dotson said another priority is the implementation of classes to prepare students for college and a career.

An audience member asked Dotson what traits he felt a superintendent should possess.

Dotson listed communication skills, experience working with administration, the ability to coordinate well and the ability to set policies as important traits.

“I also think it is important to have a superintendent that allows the principals to do their job,” he said. “I am not into micromanagement.”

An audience member asked Dotson to explain why he made the decision to place Mehal in the interim superintendent position.

Dotson said after the previous superintendent left, the board had 90 days to find a replacement.

“We had contacted a consulting firm that specializes at looking at superintendents to get advice,” Dotson said. “A new superintendent comes with a price tag and we knew we were going to face budgetary cuts.”

Dotson said by the time the board looked to hire a new superintendent most had been hired by other districts.

“We wanted to wait so we could hire the kind of quality person our kids deserve,” he said.

An audience member asked Merriel to answer a question on Turner’s behalf. Merriel was asked to address some of the board’s static policies.

Merriel said they included improving football and track facilities, repairing some areas of the school buildings, multi-sports policy and budget concerns.

“The district is going to be faced with some tough decisions and we need someone like Wayne to help us make those decisions,” Merriel said. “Wayne listens to people and knows how to think outside the box.”